KOZHIKODE: Former Union Minister K P Unnikrishnan on Saturday released the book ‘Spectrum of Polity’ written by politician C P John by handing over the first copy to The New Indian Express Resident Editor Vinod Mathew Jacob at a function here.
The book, published by Olive Publications, is a collection of John’s 43 articles which were published in the columns of The New Indian Express and The Sunday Magazine between April 2013 and December 2016.
Unnikrishnan, who is known for taking bold decisions ignoring his political affiliations, said dearth of upright politicians was taking its toll on Indian politics. He stressed the importance of political leaders like C P John who were bold enough to strongly express their opinions.
“We have politicians who read a lot. But we rarely get a politician who expresses his strong views in writing.”
John’s articles touched upon contemporary issues which included changing Indian economic scenario, demonetisation, uniform civil code and international relations. John said though he belonged to a different political era, K P Unnikrishnan played a prominent role in shaping his political thought process.
“I admire him a lot. Being a voracious reader, Unnikrishnan maintains a huge library in his house. He used to give me a lot of books to read.” John said he was never confident of writing in English and it was Vinod Mathew who gave him the confidence.
“When we chose John to write columns in our daily, we were confident that he will give us impartial articles irrespective of his political affiliations. To this date, he has been able to write in-depth articles on varied topics. He has been realistic in his writings,” said Vinod Mathew.
Social critic Hameed Chennamangaloor, MVR Cancer Centre chairman C N Vijaya Krishnan and journalist P Damodaran were present at the function.